Question

Before the start of a professional soccer game, the balls must be inflated to a pressure of 13 psi (pounds per square inch) with a tolerance of 0.5 psi. Write an absolute value equation that you can use to find the minimum and maximum pressure of the soccer balls.

A) |p - 13| ≤ 0.5
B) |p + 13| ≤ 0.5
C) |p - 13| ≥ 0.5
D) |p + 13| ≥ 0.5

Answer 1

The correct absolute value equation that represents the minimum and maximum soccer ball pressure of 13 psi with a tolerance of 0.5 psi is A) |p - 13| ≤ 0.5. This equation captures the acceptable pressure range for the soccer balls before a professional game.

Step-by-step explanation:

Before the start of a professional soccer game, the soccer balls must be inflated to a recommended pressure of 13 psi with a tolerance of ±0.5 psi. To represent this situation with an absolute value equation, we have to capture the range of acceptable pressures, from the minimum at 12.5 psi to the maximum at 13.5 psi. The correct absolute value equation would therefore be A) |p - 13| ≤ 0.5.This equation describes the acceptable range of pressures, where 'p' denotes the soccer ball pressure. If the pressure is exactly 13 psi, the absolute value of (p - 13) is 0, which is within the tolerance of ±0.5 psi. If the pressure differs from 13 psi, but is within 0.5 psi higher or lower, the absolute value of (p - 13) satisfies the inequality, meaning the pressure is within the acceptable range.